Study Finds that K-Mart Bikes Cost More Than IBD Bikes

Bike in a bicycle mechanic's workshop

Sydney, NSW Year after year, independent bicycle dealers (IBD’s) miss out on sales of entry level bikes because the customer thinks it’s cheaper to buy a bike from K-Mart or another mass merchant. All of us in the bike industry know that most mass merchant bikes are rubbish! But it’s hard to get a sale…

Inside Rapha – Sydney and Beyond

Sydney, NSW I recently visited Rapha’s Sydney ‘Clubhouse’ and was kindly given permission to take the photos that you see accompanying this article. A Global Brand We’ll look more closely at the Sydney premises in a moment, but first a global overview. Rapha was founded in London, UK in 2004 by Simon Mottram. It quickly…

Want to Upgrade Your Store? Here’s 11 Great Ideas From Trek Sydney

Person with bike on city street

Sydney NSW I recently had the opportunity to visit and take photos of Trek’s flagship store in Sydney. (Thanks to the team and management!) For over 40 years this store was known as Clarence Street Cyclery, which was founded and run by the Cook family. Throughout this time, Clarence Street Cyclery, which sold many different…

Cyberbikes Chooses a Different Path

Man standing with bicycle out the front of bike shop

Leichhardt, NSW Cyberbikes has just opened a relatively small shop on one of Sydney’s busiest stretches of road. Parramatta Road at Leichhardt is about six kilometres west of the CBD. This is a relatively densely populated area with century-old terrace houses and a wide range of apartment buildings. Unlike most small bicycle stores, founder Felipe…

Staff-Starved Store Finds Solution as Shop With No Bikes

Bike store interior

Geraldton, WA Northern WA bike store owner Leighton Thomas has received plenty of puzzled expressions in recent weeks, as he outlined plans to reinvent his business as a “bike store with no bikes”. “I’ve never stumped so many people before,” according to the industry veteran of 33 years, including stints as some of bicycle retail’s…

Inside Australia’s Largest New Bike Shop

Panoramic interior view of bicycle store

Lilydale, Victoria The Latz Report recently wrote about Yarra Valley Cycles purchasing a 1,500 square metre premises to be transformed into one of Australia’s largest bike shops. On 13th September, we had the chance to visit the almost completed store to take photos and interview co-owner Ash Swann. Lilydale is 42km east of the Melbourne…

How to Sell Nearly $1 Million in Apparel Annually

Brookvale, NSW Back in early 2021, I phoned Sticky Bottle as part of our monthly How’s Business column, in which we speak to bike shop owners and managers across Australia and NZ. As you can see in that column, owner Justin Roscoe made the rare revelation that they sold a lot of cycling apparel through…

Remodelled Reid Cycles Rolls out Latest Electric Offerings

folding ebike

Frankfurt, Germany A remodelled Reid Cycles was on display at Eurobike 2023, including the Australian brand’s escalating shift into e-bikes and e-scooters. Reid Cycles founder James Reid, group CEO Rob Akam and the Reid team used the Frankfurt trade show to unveil several new e-bike and e-scooter models, including the company’s first folding compact e-cargo…

Revolve Alliance Restores Pedal Club Momentum

Two men shaking hands with bikes in foreground

Sydney, NSW Two relatively young Sydney organisations – one a subscription business specialising in children’s bikes and the other a recycling operation created to serve the bike industry – have joined forces to strengthen the sustainability objectives of both ventures. Bike leasing company The Pedal Club last month announced it is partnering with Revolve Recycling…